Florida's first bear hunt in two decades was called off after American hunters killed nearly 300 bears in just two days, nearing the official limit.

Wildlife authorities said late Sunday that 295 bears had been “harvested.” 

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said in a statement that it ended the state-approved hunting for 2015 because it was approaching an agency "objective" of 320 bears overall.

"The 2015 bear hunt is officially over," the statement said.

The hunt was meant to control the black bear population that has increased to more than 3,000 from several hundred in the 1970s.

Wildlife authorities had already canceled hunting in designated central and east Panhandle regions of Florida on Saturday, the first day of hunting.

The hunt was approved earlier this year after contentious debate. The decision sparked protests by animal rights activists and conservationists.

Activists held statewide rallies on Friday, hoping to build on the international outrage over the illegal killing of Cecil, Zimbabwe’s most famous male lion, by an American hunter on July 1.

"The real raw fact of the matter of losing these bears is devastating to many of us in the community," Emily Ruff of the Florida School of Holistic Living told the Orlando Sentinel newspaper.

State wildlife officers report an increase in the number of complaints they receive about bears roaming neighborhoods close to woodlands.

Over the past two years, at least four Floridians have been injured by bears looking for food in open garbage cans and backyard grills.